BET Host Keynoter, Gospel Recording Artist
Keynoters For Local African American Male Conference

The Grand Rapids Times
2-29-2008

Grand Rapids – Gerard Henry, nationally renown host of BET’s “Lift Every Voice“ is one of two keynote speakers expected to challenge local African American men to make a difference in the community and in the lives of young African American males.

Henry will speak at the 2008 African American Male Conference, Saturday, March 15, 2008, at Messiah Missionary Baptist Church, 513 Henry Street SE.

Registration and breakfast start at 7:30 am.

Males of all ages are welcomed to attend.

Presentations from area motivational speakers will be geared toward the youth.

“This will be a good Saturday outing for fathers, grandfathers, uncles, mentors – actually any man –to participate in and to bring with them younger males from their families, neighborhoods, churches or other youth that might be under their care,” said Albert Hudgins, a member of Mes- siah’s Men’s Ministry. “It only costs $10 to attend. We have some scholarships to cover the costs for youth that cannot afford to pay.”

The ministry is sponsoring the event under the theme, “Mentorship: Reach One, Teach One.”

Bishop Neal Roberson, Blackberry Gospel Recording Artist, will join Henry in issuing the charge for men to come forth. Bishop Roberson is also Senior Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Lansing, Michigan.

Messiah’s Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Clifton Rhodes, Jr., and the Men’s Ministry started The African American Male Conference in 1992. Support from the church’s congregation and private donations have contributed to the event’s survival.

The purpose has been to provide knowledge and understanding of and to respond to critical issues facing African American young males.

Conference planners note that throughout the years, as a result of the conference, a variety of on-going services and a number of youth programs have evolved, aimed at raising the self-esteem and prospects for young men.

Public Forums GRPS Seeks Opinions About School Uniforms

The Grand Rapids Times
2-29-2008

Grand Rapids – Student leaders in The Grand Rapids Public Schools are recommending uniforms for middle and high school students tied to performance standards.

What is your opinion about a uniform dress code policy for GRPS students?

Parents, guardians, students and all other interested parties, make your voice heard.

Be sure to go to one of the two public forum being held Wednesday, March 5, 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Chose to go to Central High School, 421 Fountain NE or Ottawa Hills High at Burton and Rosewood, SE.

Student leaders on the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council want to hear from you.

Members of the Council began discussing and studying the impact of school uniforms on academic achievement during the 2007-2008 school year.

When the Council resumed meeting again this year, they continued their discussion and research and developed recommendations, which could eventually be presented to the Grand Rapids Board of Education.

These young leaders are recommending that students in all GRPS middle and high schools be required to wear school uniforms, unless or until the school meets or exceeds certain performance standards tied to academic achievement, attendance, and suspension rates.

This is the time to come and share your thoughts and opinions, and in a setting where what you think can be heard – before the school board makes a decision.

Black Buying Power To Reach $1.1 Trillion

[read more in the print edition of the Grand Rapids Times or click here to log in if you have a subscription or want to buy a subscription]

Closing Out Black History Month:  Let's Talk About It

The Grand Rapids Times
2-29-2008
By Rev. David G. May

And what shall the end of the matter be as we conclude this series? I think a sober look at the founder’s of Black History Month make it clear.

It seems to me that we must conclude that after 82 years of efforts of infusion, or permeating our culture with data, facts, principles and personalities into our popular culture to help explain how black Americans added value to the development of America is helpful, but not the goal of its founders.

In popular culture, this method does nothing more than produce black history month as a suggestion. In schools of higher learning, black history is an elective, although colleges and universities are allowed by Office of Multicultural Affairs to have some special February events.

What we do every year to celebrate black history month is really a strategy of infusion, designed to reach the goal of inclusion; it is not a goal in itself.

[read more in the print edition of the Grand Rapids Times or click here to log in if you have a subscription or want to buy a subscription]

Fox TV: The O’Racist Factor

Bill O’Reilly’s latest “lynching” attack on Michelle Obama caps a series of racist slurs that have led some to refer to him as Bill O’Racist.

The latest flap occurred February 19 when O’Reilly, saying he was defending Obama, stated on his radio program: “I don’t want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there’s evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that’s how she really feels – that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever – then that’s legit. We’ll track it down.”

To his credit, O’Reilly did caution the caller against repeating second-hand charges against Obama. Defending himself two days later, O’Reilly asserted, “The word ‘lynching’ was used because I said it quite clearly. I’m not going to go on some lynching party against Michelle Obama; that’s ridiculous.”

That’s not exactly what he said. By stating that he didn’t want to go on a lynching party against Obama unless she was truly unpatriotic, O’Reilly left open the possibility that under certain circumstances, he would indeed join what he termed a lynching party.

[read more in the print edition of the Grand Rapids Times or click here to log in if you have a subscription or want to buy a subscription]

Black History Academy
Learning Through Storytelling

A griot (pronounced gree-oh) is a story teller, not just of any story – but a story teller who recites oral history.

In West Africa, a griot kept the histories and cultural traditions of families and villages alive.

They didn’t write their stories. They remembered and kept unwritten records of who was born to whom, how people lived, as well as major and common, every day events. They talked not only about what was done, but also why things were done the way they were.
As they talked, information was passed down from one generation to the next.

This oral tradition, no doubt, is not foreign to Americans of African descent. Most, if not all, Black families have at least one relative who remembers from “way back when” and is the storyteller that passes down the family’s history, and more.

Earlier this month, at St. Luke A.M.E. Zion Church in Grand Rapids, the A.M.E. Zion Church West Michigan District Lay Council went back to this tradition and hosted a Black History Academy titled “African American Griots: Digging Up Roots, One Day At A Time.”

The academy featured individuals from the local community who create awareness and appreciation for Black History in a variety of ways, locally, statewide, nationally and internationally.

Along with Mrs. Edmond, panelists Rev. Dr. David May, Mr. George Bayard and Mr. T.A. ElAmin were the griots for the event.

[Click Here to Download Their Stories from Page 8 of the Printed Edition of the Grand Rapids Times]

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